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Mukasa
Ava is the young narrator of the story “Shu Yi.” She lives with her family in a predominantly white Australian suburb. Ava is Black but resents it—her Blackness sets her apart from her peers, who are mostly white, and it makes her a frequent target of their bullying. However, after Shu Yi, a Chinese student, starts attending Ava’s school, Ava’s peers stop bullying Ava and start bullying Shu Yi instead. Ava recognizes that the bullying is wrong, but at the same time, she’s selfishly grateful that Shu Yi’s arrival has made her own life much easier. When Ava’s mum, who works at Ava’s school, notices the other students bullying Shu Yi, she immediately recognizes the bullying as racially motivated and encourages Ava to defend Shu Yi and make her feel comfortable. Ava’s mum is shocked when Ava doesn’t seem interested in helping Shu Yi—she thinks Ava’s own history of being bullied and knowing what it feels like to be an outsider should only make Ava more determined to be an ally to Shu Yi. Nevertheless, when Shu Yi turns to Ava for help after kids are harassing her during recess, Ava rejects Shu Yi and calls her a racial slur. Ava’s failure to help Shu Yi shows how prejudice can perpetuate prejudice when people who have experienced discrimination themselves fail to act in solidarity with others experiencing discrimination.
Ava Quotes in Foreign Soil
The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by Ava or refer to Ava. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Shu Yi
Quotes
My blackness was the hulking beast crouched in the corner of every room, and absolutely nothing was going to make it seem cool.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Wondrous as she seemed, Shu Yi wasn’t a problem I wanted to take on. Besides, with her arrival my own life had become easier: Melinda and the others hadn’t come looking for me in months. At home, my thankful mother had finally taken the plastic undersheet off my bed.
Get the entire Foreign Soil LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ava Quotes in Foreign Soil
The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by Ava or refer to Ava. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Shu Yi
Quotes
My blackness was the hulking beast crouched in the corner of every room, and absolutely nothing was going to make it seem cool.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Wondrous as she seemed, Shu Yi wasn’t a problem I wanted to take on. Besides, with her arrival my own life had become easier: Melinda and the others hadn’t come looking for me in months. At home, my thankful mother had finally taken the plastic undersheet off my bed.
